


Admiring from Afar

by My_Yawning_Grave



Series: Warriors ships and pairings [5]
Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: 5 Things, 5+1 Things, 5+1 things are surprisingly hard to write, Admiring from Afar, Enemies to Lovers, Fireheart is feeling feelings, Fluff without Plot, Fluffy Ending, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, changes in a relationship, from Fireheart point of view, omg those bitchs gay good from them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:27:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24387442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Yawning_Grave/pseuds/My_Yawning_Grave
Summary: Firepaw was not blind, he knew beauty when he saw it but it was the source of the beauty that conflicted him.
Relationships: Firestar/Tigerclaw (Warriors)
Series: Warriors ships and pairings [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1653238
Comments: 2
Kudos: 64





	1. Fireheart

**Author's Note:**

> Be the change you want to see in the Warriors fandom...... you want more TigerFire then you create more TigerFire.....

_-1_  
He was quite a spectacle to see, broad-shouldered, with his height alone, he was making regular warriors look like little kits, muscularly body created by unrelenting training, and a voice that demanded well-deserved respect.

Yes, a magnificent warrior indeed but Firepaw was mostly interested in the dark tabbies scars.  
Some long, some short, some new and some old and the kitty-pet turned apprentices was curious of their tales, of the battles lost and won. 

It was tempting to ask, but Firepaw knew better- his questioning won't be well received by a tom that openly spoken in loathing about the ginger apprentices' blood.

Best to simply admire from afar and wonder.   
\----  
_-2_  
Firepaw was not blind, he knew beauty when he saw it but it was the source of the beauty that conflicted him.   
Had his admiration for the mighty warrior shifted to something more mysterious? surly not, he was simply acknowledging the obvious. Toms and she-cats alike would agree that the dark tabby was incredibly handsome. 

His fur was long and dense, needed to have constant maintenance because of leaves, sticks and other forests litter getting stuck but it gave the tom a shiny exterior, his paws were large but quiet like stars when haunting, his ears long with charming tufts of fur on top and a wicked smirk that dazzled the apprentice.   
There was a lot of beauty in that tom.

But these little twitches in his chest mean nothing but the admiration of course.

\----  
_-3_  
Bless the Stars, his eyes- burning, amber jewels.   
They speak little and yet so much. They show coldness and carry as a mask of indifference- no that's not exactly true, there are moments where the coldness melts and the mask falls. 

Fireheart was weak to those moments, they dare him to come closer and yet to stay away, to stay in his line and yet dared him to prove himself, to show his an exception to the "kittypets are weak" stereotype. 

Fireheart wonders are others also so drawn in? surely he can't be the only one seeing those amber eyes melt and become soft, gentle and so intense like burning fire.   
\-----  
_-4_  
Fireheart believes that the battle-scarred tom manipulated his character of voice, changing the tone from harsh and cold to soft and whisper-like in certain circumstances.

Was it a game to real Fireheart in? to hock the kittypet with gentle whispers? if that was the goal well then the Stars be damned the dark tabby got what he wanted as Fireheart was hocked.   
It was terrifying and exhilarating for him to watch the changes. 

In the Clans watchful eyes, the Deputy wear his usually no-nonsense, harsh, powerful voice that carries the weight and fear of Tigerclan without being risen more than required to be heard but...when alone with certain cats... his voice rather than roaring like tigers it flowed like rivers, swift and calm, and dare Fireheart to say...gentle. 

Fireheart couldn't help but be surprised that he somehow found himself in the "certain cats" category. Not that he was complaining.   
\----  
_-5_  
His smiles where a deadly thing, Fireheart notices.   
A trap that was pulled with the victim not even realizing it and Fireheart was once oblivious to it at first but now he was no fool he saw the changes.   
The way the dark tabbies rare public smiles were nothing but for a show, they were hallowed smiles with the only purpose to please, sway and to hide the truer emotions. 

The feeling of being annoyed crept into Fireheart chest as the dark Deputy tried to pull those clean, fake smiles at him as if the ginger tom didn't know him better then that...but maybe he was a fool as Fireheart was swayed with the real smiles, so soft and sweet like flowers in green-leaf, the way the amber eyes crinkle and the small number of white teeth that could be seen.

Those smiles are genuine and they had so much control over the ginger warrior but in his defense, he dared anyone with a heart to say no to that smile.   
\----  
_+1_   
There were eyes on him, gazing at his back but he feels them wondering, swallowing thicky Fireheart meets their gaze, the amber gaze widen in surprise before going back to their sluggish gaze not bothered with being caught. He knows that expression well as he has worn it himself multiple times as other cats have pointed out: admiration.

Fireheart raised his brow with a smile of his own and Tigerclaw's burning eyes narrowed interpreting it as a challenge. His dismount from his spot on the rock is slow, enough to buy him a few more moments of thoughtfulness and space for Fireheart to breathe. 

A dark pelt rubbed against burning ginger, Fireheart shivered and Tigerclaw purred. 


	2. Tigerclaw

-1

Bluestar has gone mad, Tigerclaw always knew her leadership was hanging by a string but to see it snap in the worst way he could imagine, by allowing that foul kittypet to join a clan of warriors. 

She spoke on how the tow-leg filth defeated Longtail in battle, but that's hardly an accomplishment. A vengeful mouse could defeat that young warrior that was fresh out of apprenticeship. 

The dark tabby scoffed, there was nothing extraordinary about that kittypet.

A soft, fat body filled with gluttony, short stumpy legs that couldn't run for long, oddly pointy ears, and curly ginger fur that sticks out against the forest's natural greenery. 

A blind elder could see that kittypet didn't belong. 

Tigerclaw turned away in disgust. This clan is falling into a dog's jaws.

\------

-2

Tigerclaw observed the sparring match playing out from the side-line. Once again, it was that kittypet and Graypaw, and the grey tom was winning. The ginger tow-leg pet desperately tried to dodge the invasion of attacks, with failure.

Tigerclaw turned his head, figuring the match would be over in a second, he cursed Bluestar's name under his breath for bringing this useless cat into their clan. 

It was getting predictable at this point.

Suddenly, something unforeseeable has occurred.

Before Graypaw could pin him, the ginger apprentice kicked his hind legs like a panicked rabbit, managed to hit Graypaw in the abdomen. The blow knocked the air out of the apprentice.

Firepaw took the moment to scramble up to his feet. Quickly used his front paws to slam Graypaw to the ground, hard.

Graypaw trashed like a fish on land in a drastic attempt to escape, but Firepaw was not letting go. Both ginger paw's held firmly on his friends shoulders. 

Tigerclaw felt his ears prick in sudden interest. 

This was new.

Graypaw pushes one paw to claw at Firepaw's face, the ginger apprentice pushed it away with his own before it hit him. 

The gray apprentice now exposed to attacks, Firepaw's eyes burned with determination and struck down with his jaws open at Graypaw's neck, his teeth holding the vulnerable throat without piercing the flesh.

Graypaw goes limp with defeat. 

Lionheart calls the match to an end before Tigerclaw could decide if he should. The dark tabby didn't bother to listen to what was being said, his eye firmly on the ginger apprentice. 

Perhaps he had been slightly blind to Firepaw's potential, while the apprentice's skills weren't anything to gloat about there was a certain fire about them and if they were trained and natured to its fullest then maybe the kittypet will have a chance surviving his first battle. 

Tigerclaw will keep an eye on the wannabe warrior just in case. 

\------

-3

Would you look at that, the kittypet- no, _Fireheart_ actually made it.

The ginger warrior stood proud beside his friend as the clan called out their new names. 

His emerald eyes glowed with the same yet different determination than he had as an apprentice sparing Graypaw in a mock battle. 

Tigerclaw purred with an odd sensation of satisfaction and pride, he raised this cat from nothing to a warrior, and now, what Fireheart does with his new status is up to him.

Although he knows that Fireheart would still seek guidance and advice, most likely from him rather than Bluestar as she was hardly a mentor, most of the time.

Eye greener than fresh grass suddenly stared at his own without blinking, a conflicted expression on the ginger face.

Star's what is that glow in them? 

They speak promises but for what? to the clan or the dark tabby himself?

There is a certain fire in them, he realizes. Tigerclaw wonders do the others see it too? surely he can't be the only one. With one look at the other cats, the dark tabby concluded, yes he is the only one who sees that burning green fire.

The thought alone twists something in Tigerclaw's gut. 

\------

-4

Fireheart wore his emotions for all of the clans to see, every flicker, every tear, and every smile was put forward with no shame. 

He feels so much- all most _too_ much.

Sometimes the ginger toms face was twisted with multiple emotions at once and the number only increased when they look at the brown tabby.

Frustration and intrigue crawled into Tigerclaw's chest. How can one cat be so easy to read but also be the most difficult? How much can one cat still feel so much and show it in the open? 

Tigerclaw understood it at first, new warriors haven't faced wars or tragedies, so they naively show their emotions with no fear of being taken advantage of or manipulated. 

Of course, that changes with time. 

But not with Fireheart, the ginger tom has faced his share of grieve, pain- physical and emotional, and battles, despite it all the younger warrior still smiles.

And Looking at the ginger warrior now, as the said tom grinned at him so opening, talking about his day - Tigerclaw will never admit it but he was glad in a way. 

Fireheart has a nice smile and, after all, it would be a shame to see it disappear and replaced with a shielded expression. 

\----

-5

Curse the stars and everything they symbolize. 

How did this happen? of all the cats, it had to be a former-kittypet, oh destiny is cruel like that. He had scorned kittypet's for their mere existence for seasons and now he had grown... _attached_ to one.

Perhaps he is partly to blame for not realizing those feelings earlier and doing something to prevent them.

Especially when he started admiring the ginger warrior from afar. But then again, Tigerclaw wasn't the only one, if Sandstorm stares were anything to go by.

A thin, lithe figure, capable of crawling into the smallest of spaces, with short legs making him look like an older apprentice then a warrior. His fur was short but curly and thick, kept well-groomed with constant care because of forest litter getting stuck with no hope of falling off on their own. His ears long and awkwardly wide, giving him a hearing better than a rabbit's and a smile that can charm him out of any trouble. 

There was a charm to that tom and Tigerclaw would be a fool not to notice it. 

\----

+1 

Tigerclaw felt his eye wondering without permission, gazing at the -new and old- scars on Firehearts back, the seasons had been hard on him but the ginger tom showed his scars with pride, as he should, they were worth admiring. 

Fireheart abruptly turns to meets his gaze, the amber eyes widen in surprise before going back to their sluggish form not bothered with being caught. Tigerclaw was never one to shy away from what he wanted. 

Fireheart raised his brow with a smile of his own and Tigerclaw's burning eyes narrowed interpreting it as a challenge. His dismount from his spot on the rock is slow, enough to buy him a few more moments of thoughtfulness and space for Fireheart to breathe. 

A dark pelt rubbed against burning ginger, Fireheart shivered and Tigerclaw purred. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found this old wip, and decided to finish it :3

**Author's Note:**

> well this didn't go as I planned but I oddly love it XD


End file.
